Ed-U-Cards "Green Hornet" Playing Cards, Greenway Productions, c.1966

Exceptional set of the "Green Hornet" cards made in 1966 by Ed-U-Cards Mfg. Co. for Greenway Productions and Twentieth Century-Fox Productions, promoting the television show that aired that year.

The article in Wikipedia on the fictional crime fighter begins this way:

"The Green Hornet is a masked fictional crime fighter. Originally created by Fran Striker for an American old-time radio program in the 1930s, the character has appeared in other media as well, including film serials in the 1940s, a network television program in the 1960s, and multiple comic book series from the 1940s to the 1990s. Though various incarnations sometimes change details, in most incarnations the Green Hornet is Britt (or "Brit") Reid, a newspaper publisher by day who by night goes out in his masked `Green Hornet' identity to fight crime as a vigilante, accompanied by his similarly masked Asian manservant Kato and driving a car, equipped with advanced technology, called `Black Beauty'. The Green Hornet is often portrayed as a fair-to-above average hand-to-hand combatant and is often armed with a gun that sprays knock-out gas (an electric stun weapon called the "hornet's sting" was added to his arsenal in the TV series)."

The Wikipedia article goes on to discuss the television show:

"Inspired by the success of the Batman series, ABC brought The Green Hornet to television in 1966-67, an adaptation which introduced martial arts master Bruce Lee to American audiences and starred Van Williams as the Green Hornet. Unlike Batman, the TV version of The Green Hornet was played straight, but in spite of the considerable interest in Lee, it was cancelled after only one season. However, the rise of Lee as a major cult movie star ensured continued interest in the property to the point where proposed Green Hornet productions typically have the casting of some major martial arts film star as Kato as the first order of business. Lee's popularity in Hong Kong, where he was raised, was such that the show was marketed there as The Kato Show."

The cards made by Ed-U-Cards depict scenes from the series on the Aces and on all pip cards. The court cards have photographs of the stars of the show superimposed upon traditional court card illustrations. The Joker is entirely an illustration. The deck has 52 cards, plus 2 Jokers. The cards are bridge size, measuring 89mm x 58mm, and come in the original box.

The cards are in "as new" condition. The box is in excellent condition, with very slight indications of age and wear, except that it appears that there was once a piece of tape that held down the top flap. It is not there now but there are indications that it once was.

Reference: Dawson, The Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards, p.238, SE25.